Unique among even the most cutting-edge standup comics of the '60s, Bob Newhart entertained his audiences not with snappy patter and jokes, but with long monologues in which his voice represented one side of a conversation, the other side left to the listener's imagination. This idiosyncratic format proved endlessly adaptable, as Newhart spun seemingly endless scenarios from it. Before he became a beloved TV star with the Bob Newhart Show, he released several popular comedy albums, from which the best moments have been culled for inclusion on this definitive two-disc compilation. Whether he's advising Abraham Lincoln, confronting King Kong, or getting blitzed at a retirement party (among other comedic situations to be found here), Newhart employs his patented mild-mannered, "button-down" personality to subtle but sharp comic effect.